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Eads DA, Biggins DE, Wimsatt J, Eisen RJ, Hinnebusch BJ, Matchett MR, Goldberg AR, Livieri TM, Hacker GM, Novak MG, Buttke DE, Grassel SM, Hughes JP, Atiku LA. Exploring and Mitigating Plague for One Health Purposes. CURRENT TROPICAL MEDICINE REPORTS 2022; 9:169-184. [PMID: 39210935 PMCID: PMC11358858 DOI: 10.1007/s40475-022-00265-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Purpose of Review In 2020, the Appropriations Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives directed the CDC to develop a national One Health framework to combat zoonotic diseases, including sylvatic plague, which is caused by the flea-borne bacterium Yersinia pestis. This review builds upon that multisectoral objective. We aim to increase awareness of Y. pestis and to highlight examples of plague mitigation for One Health purposes (i.e., to achieve optimal health outcomes for people, animals, plants, and their shared environment). We draw primarily upon examples from the USA, but also discuss research from Madagascar and Uganda where relevant, as Y. pestis has emerged as a zoonotic threat in those foci. Recent Findings Historically, the bulk of plague research has been directed at the disease in humans. This is not surprising, given that Y. pestis is a scourge of human history. Nevertheless, the ecology of Y. pestis is inextricably linked to other mammals and fleas under natural conditions. Accumulating evidence demonstrates Y. pestis is an unrelenting threat to multiple ecosystems, where the bacterium is capable of significantly reducing native species abundance and diversity while altering competitive and trophic relationships, food web connections, and nutrient cycles. In doing so, Y. pestis transforms ecosystems, causing "shifting baselines syndrome" in humans, where there is a gradual shift in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment. Eradication of Y. pestis in nature is difficult to impossible, but effective mitigation is achievable; we discuss flea vector control and One Health implications in this context. Summary There is an acute need to rapidly expand research on Y. pestis, across multiple host and flea species and varied ecosystems of the Western US and abroad, for human and environmental health purposes. The fate of many wildlife species hangs in the balance, and the implications for humans are profound in some regions. Collaborative multisectoral research is needed to define the scope of the problem in each epidemiological context and to identify, refine, and implement appropriate and effective mitigation practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Eads
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue Building C, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA
| | - Dean E. Biggins
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue Building C, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA
| | - Jeffrey Wimsatt
- Department of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
| | - Rebecca J. Eisen
- Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - B. Joseph Hinnebusch
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - Marc R. Matchett
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, Lewistown, MT, USA
| | | | | | - Gregory M. Hacker
- Vector-Borne Disease Section, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Mark G. Novak
- Vector-Borne Disease Section, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Danielle E. Buttke
- National Park Service Biological Resources Division and Office of Public Health, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | | | - John P. Hughes
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center, Carr, CO, USA
| | - Linda A. Atiku
- Plague Unit, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda
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